


All But The Truth

by InsaneJK



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga), Death Note: Another Note
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Criminal Main Character, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, M/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:01:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24154729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneJK/pseuds/InsaneJK
Summary: “Kira, I know you are watching this broadcast.” Jackal spoke, “You watch the news from eight to twelve, and you are currently sitting perhaps at your desk, or maybe a couch or on your bed, just listening and waiting for a criminal’s name to pop up-- oh, how rude of me.  I am Jackal, and given my criminal record, I am sure you have heard of me.  The ‘no-name hacker’ from Canada, the ‘Jackal’ from America, ‘J’ from the British isles… don’t bother trying to kill me, I already know you can’t.”Jackal, the world's most successful criminal from a young age, goes head to head with L and Kira.  But whose side are they truly on?Please read the tags, and remember there is a lot of cannon divergence in this fan fiction.
Relationships: Amane Misa/Yagami Light, L/Yagami Light, Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s), Yagami Light/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 17





	1. The Game Begins

###  12.01.2003

“Jackal strikes again, huh…” The raven haired man spoke, his tone quiet, dull, and devoid of the true emotion he was feeling.

Raw anger.

He watched as the words flew across the television screen, ‘ _ Wells Fargo online banking hacked, thousands of dollars lost. _ ’

“He wouldn’t take that much money unless he needed it.” the man muttered, biting his lip as he watched the screen, “Jackal, what are you planning.”

Then, a quiet beeping filled the room, his owlish eyes turning to look at his laptop, pressing the spacebar as the screen was filled with the image of a young girl, her chocolate brown hair pulled to one side and her deep caramel eyes staring at her screen intently. 

“H, pleasure to meet you.” Ryuzaki spoke, “I, as you are aware, am L.”

“Yes, I’m aware.” the young girl’s image moved, her hand moving to rub her eyes, “Mr. Wammy says you need something from me-- Is it a case?” 

“Yes, it is.” L spoke, his tone bland, “As you probably know, criminals are dropping like flies-- one by one, all by unprovoked heart attacks. I currently have reason to believe that the killer behind these unexplainable murders is in Japan. I need someone who is willing to get their hands dirty, to do the groundwork and relay the information to me. Roger told me that you would be the best fit for the job.” 

“When do I need to be there?”

L smiled ever so slightly, “Your flight leaves tomorrow morning at five A.M.” 

“I’ll hear from you when I get there, I suppose.” H nodded.

“Yes, you will.” L spoke, “Once the two of you-- You and Wammy-- get to Japan, I will have him contact me and we will all three speak.”

“Thank you, L.” 

“No, Thank you.” 

###  12.02.2003

H waded around in the water, soaking up its heat as the harsh smell of chlorine filled her nose. Sitting down on the concrete ledge in the water, she leaned her head against the lip of the hot tub, pulling her knees to her chest as she thought.

_ ‘You are to call Wammy Watari during this case, and I Ryuzaki. You will work under the alias Jamie Willow.’  _ she recalled L’s words from less than an hour ago,  _ ‘You will be staying with Watari until the situation changes. He will drive you to and from the police station. I already have everything ready for you to settle into the task force with little to no suspicion. Your files have been put into their system, and you will be acting as a new detective from America who moved to Japan for college. I will send you your profile on this computer.’  _

As Jamie’s mind wandered, she barely noticed a young woman about her age enter the hot tub as well, the girl’s short, curly ginger hair pulling the girl’s attention away from her thoughts and to the woman talking to her now.

“Where are you visiting from?” the woman asked, a smile on her red lips, “I’m from L.A.” 

“England.” Jamie smiled warily.

“Oh,” the redhead smiled, “I’ve been there once on a band trip with my school-- it’s absolutely beautiful there! What area?” 

The woman couldn’t have been much older than eighteen, and her short pixie cut only made her look younger; her bright hazel eyes looking over Jamie with an excited spark.

“Portsmouth.” Jamie nodded, her lips tugging into a smile, “What instrument do you play?”

“A few,” she grinned, “The cello, the violin, and the clarinet.” 

“I play the bass.” Jamie smiled, “I’m Jamie.” 

“Ash.” the woman smiled, “I’m here touring colleges, how about you?”

“Just on vacation.” Jamie nodded, reaching across the hot tub to shake the woman’s hand, who did so gently.

“I should probably get going,” Jamie frowned as she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

Something about this woman gave her a bad vibe.

“Pleasure meeting you,” Ash smiled, watching as the woman pulled herself out of the hot tub and made her way towards her bag. 

\--

As ‘Jamie’ made her way back into the hotel, Ash gave a smirk, the woman stepping out of the hot tub and quickly grabbing her things from the table, wrapping a towel around her torso before sliding on her sandals. She left through the gate leading outside, her eyes shifting left to right as she scanned the rather busy parking lot. 

She slid into the driver’s seat of her car; a cargo van renovated into a small living space with a mattress and small kitchenette.

Leaving the parking lot, she drove down the road until she came to a stop in a supermarket parking lot, the woman climbing into the back of her van and taking a seat on the mattress. 

Typing away, she managed to hack into both L’s computer and this supposed ‘Jamie’s’ computer, the woman smirking as she plugged in her earbuds, placing them in her ears as she listened to the conversation.

L’s scattered voice filled her ears, “Criminals all around the world have been dying of untraceable heart attacks… Many are claiming it is the work of a vengeful God, but this is clearly not the case.”

“What if it’s some untraceable drug?” Jamie’s voice came through Ash’s headphones, “Something the government doesn’t know how to trace yet?”

“Possible, but unlikely.” L spoke, “These criminals haven’t been in contact with the outside world. The first killing, however, was, but the only people he was in contact with that day were those who were being held hostage by him.”

Ash smirked, her fingers moving rapidly over the miss-matched keyboard made from parts of different computers. A text box popped up on her screen, and she knew the two others could see the text she wrote.

‘LOOK HARDER, YOU’RE DISAPPOINTING ME. -- J’

“Jackal.” Jamie spoke, “Are we just entertainment for you, arsehole?”

Ash smirked, biting her lip as she typed once more

‘SHE’S CUTE, WHO’S YOUR NEW FRIEND, L? -- J’

“Jackal, if you could please refrain from flirting with my coworkers.” L spoke, the man utterly failing at hiding his irritation.

‘BUZZKILL. I’VE LOOKED INTO HER FILES, ANYWAYS. ALIAS: HECATE. AGE: 17. WAS PLACED UNDER THE CARE OF WAMMY'S ORPHANAGE AT AGE 7. THROWS TESTS TO AVOID GAINING THE TITLE OF L. TRANSLATION: B O R I N G. -- J’

“Are we just supposed to continue our conversation with this jackass listening?” ‘Jamie’ spoke, her eyes narrowing at her screen. 

‘YOU’LL GET USED TO MY PRESENCE AFTER A WHILE. PLEASE, JUST CONTINUE AS THOUGH I’M NOT HERE. -- J’

“And how the hell are we supposed to do that?” Hecate snapped, Ash’s lips curling into a smile.

“All the information we’ve found so far is that all these criminals have been arrested publicly, and all died in a heart attack. This murderer is most likely in Japan due to his first killing, which was most likely a test. We know he hasn’t been killing for long, and…” L trailed off as Ash began typing rapidly.

‘YOU’RE CLOSE, L, BUT NOT QUITE AS CLOSE AS I AM. I’LL BE GENEROUS. LOOK AT THE TIME OF DEATH OF EACH CRIMINAL. THAT’S ALL I’LL GIVE YOU. -- J’

There was a pause, no one speaking only for Hecate to let out a sigh, “Ryuzaki, is there any way I can access the criminals’ files?”

‘RYUZAKI, EH? TRYING TO COPY OUR DEAR FRIEND BEYOND? -- J’

“Yes,” L spoke, “I’ve already sent the file to your computer.”

“Thank you.” Hecate nodded. 

‘WHAT’S YOUR PLAN FOR H, L? -- J’

“Hecate, there will be a meeting set up by the ICPO in the next few days. You will be attending. Sit nearby the Japanese Police representative, Yagami. If anyone asks you who you are, show them your badge and tell them you recently moved up.”

‘THEY’RE AVERAGE ENOUGH TO FALL FOR IT, ALTHOUGH I WOULD STAY AWAY FROM YAGAMI FOR THE MOST PART. HE HAS ANXIETY, NOT TO MENTION HE IS EXTREMELY PARANOID AND MAY ASK TO HAVE YOU ESCORTED OUT IF HE KNOWS HE WAS NEVER ALERTED ABOUT YOUR NEW POSITION.--J’

“I have already sent out an email to Yagami telling him of Hecate’s promotion.” L spoke bluntly, “Sit next to Yagami, Hecate.” 

‘YOUR PLAN HAS HOLES IN IT, L. IT WILL WORK TEMPORARILY, BUT IT WILL BACKLASH LATER. -- J’

“Excuse me for not choosing to believe you, Jackal.” L spoke, his tone dismissive as his words sped up, “But I would rather not pretend that the Wara Ningyo case never happened.”

‘CAN’T ARGUE WITH A DETECTIVE, NOW CAN YOU? -- J’

“The ICPO meeting is tomorrow, and I intend to make my appearance towards the end of the meeting.” L’s tone shifted as his attention switched to Ash, “Jackal, I ask you not to make an entrance if or when you show up.”

‘YOU KNOW I’M NOT A MAN OF MY WORD. -- J’  Ash smirked, bringing her index finger to her lip as she listened.

“Let's just finish this up,” Hecate sighed, “Anything else we need to know before the meeting?

‘PATIENCE, YOUNG GRASSHOPPER. -- J’

“Fuck you.” Hecate hissed.

‘SNAPPY, I LIKE IT. -- J’

“Do not say anything during the meeting.” L spoke, “But before the meeting, make sure you formally introduce yourself to Yagami.” 

“Thank you, Ryuzaki.” Hecate nodded.

“I will speak with you again soon.” L spoke, ending the call.

Ash thought for a moment, debating sending a virus to Wammy’s laptop just to piss L off, but immediately thought against it.

_ ‘I do everything for a reason. Frying Wammy’s laptop would be useless and risky.’ _ she shut her laptop, looking over the mismatched logos on her handmade computer. She sighed, setting her laptop onto the bed beside her as she stood, glancing around the back of the van.

It was only a matter of time before she would have to ditch this old van.

It was a pity. 

_ ‘I enjoy the aesthetic of this van.’ _

She bit her lip as she ran her fingers through her curly pixie cut, dragging her hand down from the top of her head through to the shaved undercut going ear to ear.

One thing was certain; she was going to have to get rid of it as soon as she made her appearance at the ICPO meeting.

###  12.04.2003

“Fifty-two in the past week, and that’s just those we know about.” Ash listened through her cheap earbuds, watching the interpol meeting through the camera in Wammy’s laptop, “Every single one from cardiac arrest. All of the victims are criminals either being pursued by police, or already behind bars. We may assume that  _ more  _ wanted criminals, whose whereabouts are unknown, have died as well. In which case, the death toll would be well over a hundred…”

“But they’re all violent criminals who deserve the death penalty several times over. Is it really a great concern?” another voice said.

“Who just said that?!” a third spoke, “That is a totally irresponsible view!”

“That’s right. Violent criminal or death row inmate, if someone kills them it’s still murder!” 

“But has it been verified that it’s murder?”

“How could more than a hundred heart attacks be sheer coincidence?!” someone else yelled, “Of course it’s murder!”

“Who could possibly murder that many people over such a wide area, virtually simultaneously?”

“The only person who we’ve known to be able to do that single-handedly has been the Jackal, but even he wouldn’t be able to do this at such a large scale.”

“We believe this is a carefully orchestrated mass assassination carried out by a large organization.”

“The only ‘large organization’ capable of pulling off something like that, I believe, would be the CIA or the FBI!” at this, the whole room burst into loud arguing, a few insults being thrown here and there at the man who said this.

“With so many criminals dying, our pride as police…”

Someone slammed their hand down on their desk, “It’s not a question of pride!”

“I have to say,” the first man spoke calmly, “It is a problem if we have condemned prisoners dying before their sentence is carried out.”

“Why don’t we first ascertain whether this is really murder, or just coincidence?”

“But the coroner’s report for every single one says “cardiac arrest, cause unknown’!”

“You can’t track down a murderer when the cause of death is a heart attack…”

“It would be one thing if they had a knife sticking out of them…”

“How about putting it to a vote?”

“I think we have no choice. This is another one for L.” a man spoke, the room going silent for a moment, only for the arguing to get louder. 

“But they say L only gets involved in cases that interest him. If not, forget it.”

“That’s right. And anyway, we have no way of contacting him!”

“L is already involved.” at this, everyone went silent, looking to the front of the room towards Wammy. A few people gasped, as others gave confused looks. One man even yelled ‘Watari!’

From where Wammy’s laptop was situated, Ash could see the surprised look on Yagami’s expression.

“Greetings to the ICPO, I am L.” Ash listened as L spoke, his scrambled voice filling her ears, “The case before us is unprecedented in scope and difficulty. Not only this, but it is an atrocious crime of mass murder, and we must stop them at all costs. In order to solve this case, however… I request the full cooperation of police worldwide, with an agreement passed at the interpol meeting today.” 

After a moment of hushed whispers, a man spoke, “L, interpol has passed a resolution promising you their full cooperation.” 

“Good. I strongly request the cooperation of the Japanese police in particular.” L spoke.

“What? Why Japan?” Yagami questioned, his eyes wide with shock

“Whether this is being carried out by a group or by an individual, it is highly probable that they’re Japanese.” L explained, “And if not Japanese, that they are in Japan.” 

“Could it be the Jackal, L?” a man asked, “He did say that he was no longer in America--”

“No. I believe the Jackal is not behind these murders. They are, however, interested in this case, and has voiced their personal thoughts to me.” L spoke, “Though they were very vague, they say it was important we look at every criminal thoroughly, and note every similarity we find.”

“But why Japan? What evidence do you have that the killer is there?” Another man questioned.

“Why Japan?” L questioned, “I will be able to show you very soon, in a direct confrontation with the killer. I therefore request that the investigation will be headquartered in Japan.”

Ash began typing on her laptop, overtaking the projector of the ICPO meeting room and projecting her own logo; a black background with the word ‘ J A C K A L ’ spread across the background in a grey, plain font.

There was a series of gasps throughout the meeting hall as Ash spoke into her headphone speaker, her voice coming out as a deep, scrambled tone, masking her true, feminine voice, “It’s because I dropped the very obvious hint to L that this murderer is clearly in Japan.” she let out a huff of laughter, “And don’t bother tracing this broadcast, by the way. I’m going through Watari’s computer, which in itself has a function that results in incoming calls to be untraceable through it on it’s own. Anyways, that isn’t the point.”

“What are you doing here, Jackal?!” A man yelled from the crowd, “Here to show off your skills?”

“No,” Ash smirked, “Your inability to track me for the past three years does so on it’s own. Although I know every man and woman in this room hates me quite passionately, I must voice my opinions on this case. L is correct, this man, and yes, it is an individual, is residing in Japan, or at least was. L is also correct in the sense that I want every single one of you to look through the files thoroughly if you want to find something useful.”

“Why should we listen to you?”

“Yeah!”

“You’ve committed crimes that only a--”

“Oh,” Ash sighed, “Let me guess, ‘only a madman would commit?’ Anyways, you are all welcome to hate me as much as you’d like after this case. As of now, it would get you much further ahead if you would take my advice.” her tone changed to a sweet one, “L, your thoughts?”

“I will contact Japan’s Task Force soon. Thank you for your time.” L spoke, his tone dull.

“As will I.” Ash spoke, “Until we meet again.” 

###  12.05.2003

Hecate was once again looking over the files L had given her, the man seemingly obsessed with finding what Jackal meant. The girl had looked over those files almost a dozen times, and had a few theories of what Jackal meant, but she wasn’t completely sure.

As of his moment, the girl was looking over a website made about the man behind all these heart attacks, or perhaps the organization. They weren’t sure so far. The public had taken to calling him ‘Kira’, derived from the English word ‘killer’. The girl was reading off one of the fan-made websites, only for a text screen to pop up in the middle of the page, the girl groaning.

‘TURN ON YOUR MIC -- J’

She turned it on and immediately spoke “What the hell do you want you moron?”

‘I HAVE A HIGHER IQ THAN YOU, KID. ANYWAYS, TURN ON THE TELEVISION, I’M SURPRISED L NOR QUILLSH SPOKE TO YOU ABOUT THIS.--J’

“If they didn’t speak to me about it then they didn’t want me into it you ingenious fool.” she said, turning on the T.V

‘WELL THEN HOW COME IT’S BEING BROADCASTED TO ALL OF JAPAN AS OF THIS MOMENT?--J’

“... We are interrupting the program to bring you a live, globally televised broadcast from the ICPO, with a Japanese voice-over by interpreter Yoshio Anderson.” a voice spoke, the screen showed a man sitting at a desk, a name tag reading ‘Lind L. Taylor’ in front of the man. His expression was serious, his black hair sweeping across his forehead as he stared into the camera.

“I am Lind L. Taylor, more commonly known as ‘L’-- the sole person able to mobilize the police in every country worldwide.” the man spoke.

‘OF COURSE L PICKED SOMEONE WHO WAS MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN HIM. SETTING HIGH STANDARDS, I SEE.--J’

Hecate growled, turning the brightness down, “shut up before I shut it off.”

The brightness immediately went back up, ‘I CAN CONTROL YOUR COMPUTER, KID. IF I REALLY WANTED TO, I COULD OPEN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND DRAIN IT. BUT I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY AS IT IS, AND YOU PROBABLY ONLY HAVE FIVE DOLLARS IN THERE GIVEN YOU’VE NEVER HAD A TRUE JOB. UNLESS YOUR NEW PAL L GAVE YOU SOME IN RETURN FOR JOINING HIM ON THIS CASE.--J’

“You drain my money, I rip you limb from limb.” Hecate growled, grabbing a hard drive and plugging it in, that way she could back up all her files.

‘BACKING UP MY VIRUS AS WELL, KID. PAY ATTENTION TO THE BROADCAST.--J’

“I might not, just to annoy you.”

‘THEN I WILL DRAIN YOUR ACCOUNT, AS WELL AS LOOK UP THINGS IN YOUR GOOGLE THAT COULD HAVE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR. OH, AND HERE’S YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, WANT ME TO GIVE THAT TO THE BLACK MARKET?--J’

“God damn it…!” Hecate hissed, looking over at the T.V, “You fry my computer and you're dead.”

‘AND HOW DO YOU PLAN ON KILLING ME, CATE-CAT? GET IT?--J’

“... This monstrous crime must be stopped at all costs.” Lind L. Taylor continued, “‘Kira’ as the perpetrator is commonly known, will be caught. I guarantee it. Kira. I think I’ve got a good idea of why you’re doing this. But what you are doing is pure evil. Police worldwide have launched a coordinated investigation, and--” ‘L’s words were stopped abruptly, the man clutching his chest as he began struggling for breath, the man’s head slamming against the table as his breathing seized.

‘AND HERE COMES THE COCKY CONFRONTATION--J’ Jackal wrote.

The screen changed to L’s iconic ‘L’ symbol, his scrambled voice beginning to speak, “I… I don’t believe it… This was an experiment to test a hunch I had, but I never really thought… Kira… you can actually kill people without direct contact… So… my hunch was right, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t just witnessed it.” his tone changed, “Listen to me, Kira. If you did indeed just kill Lind L. Taylor, the man you just witnessed die on television, I’ll have you know he was a condemned criminal scheduled to die today, at this hour. His arrest and conviction were kept secret from the media, and went unreported even on the internet. Even you had no way of knowing about him, it seems. But rest assured, I do exist-- L does exist, so go ahead and kill me!” moments passed, L simply taunting the man to kill him. After a minute, he spoke again, “Evidently, you  _ aren’t  _ able to kill me… So there are some people you can’t kill… That is an incredibly useful hint, I thank you, Kira. Now I’ll give you some information in return. 

“Although it was announced that this was being televised globally, it was actually only broadcasted in the Kanto region of Japan, around Tokyo. The plan was to broadcast live to other areas in turn, but that is no longer necessary. You are in the Kanto Region of Japan, Kira. And although the police have missed this, your first victim was the Shinjuku killer who took eight people hostage in a nursery school. His crime, compared to those of the notorious murderers who’ve died of heart attacks, was not very serious. Moreover this case was only reported in Japan, nowhere else. That was the only information I needed to know where I could find you. Your first victim was simply a test, a guinea pig. 

“We broadcasted first to Kanto because it has the largest regional population in the country. That you happened to be there was pure luck. I didn’t expect this to work so perfectly according to plan, but… Now I daresay, it might not be so long before I send you to your death bed. Kira, it would interest me greatly to know  _ how  _ you carry out your murders… but that is something I will find out once I capture you.” L stopped for a moment, “Kira, I am going to find and dispose of you, even if it is the last thing I do. I am justice.” he paused once more, “Until we meet again, Kira.” and with that, the broadcast ended. Hecate glanced over at her laptop once more, some words popping up on her screen.

‘THAT’S CUTE, REALLY.--J’

Hecate closed her computer, and sighed, “Maybe I can relax now.”

suddenly, her iphone’s speaker began to sound; Jackal’s scrambled voice filling the room, “That was rude. We were having a conversation.”

“And I was going to write,” Hecate glared, taking her hair out of it’s ponytail and starting to braid it.

“I will let you, then.” they then, in a quieter tone, said, “It is taking all of my energy not to broadcast a response right now.”

“Do me a favor and if you want to speak to L, talk to him yourself.” she let her hair down, grabbing her notebook off the bed stand and flipping to a marker.

“Can’t, he got a new laptop.” Jackal spoke, “His computers are harder to find than Watari’s, and your phone was so easy, given you’re logged onto a public wifi.”

“Yeah well, I don’t care about most of the information on my phone.”

“And I don’t care to drain it.” the criminal responded, “You’re no fun.” and with that, the call ended.


	2. Stalemate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter than the last. Enjoy :)

Ash smirked as she listened into the Japanese Task Force’s meeting silently, her digital presence unknown to the men and women in the room. 

_ ‘Kira is in the Kanto Region… and with the information we know, they either are on the news and internet all night, or they know someone in the police force. Their rash decision during the Lind L. Taylor broadcast even gave me a good hint, though I already assumed that they were younger due to the times of death correlating with a normal high school life, but this only confirms my suspicion.’  _ Ash chewed on her lip as she thought, lying back on the van’s mattress,  _ ‘Kira, you are a high school or college student, with a high GPA and a strong sense of justice. It is obvious that he has the ability to get his hands on police information, due to the killings switching from eight P.M. through midnight to every hour on the hour. He knows that the Task Force is aware of his likelihood of being a teen or young adult in school. He isn’t trying to steer us away, it’s a direct insult towards L. It’s unlikely he skipped school to carry out these killings-- that would be too suspicious. it’s clear what he is telling us: he can set the time of death.’ _

_ ‘The only question is… Kira, how far are you willing to stray from your small-minded ideals to kill L? How far are you willing to go? And do you see me, Jackal, as a threat or a possible ally? For I am on neither your or L’s side.’  _ Then, a smirk slowly crawled onto the redhead’s pink lips, her eyes fluttering open to stare at the metal ceiling.

_ ‘L, I have no intention of killing you, only humiliating you. I will find Kira before you, but I will only help him make you look like more of a fool. As for Kira, I have no intention of turning you in unless your sense of pride gets to your head and you refuse to work with a criminal.’ _ Ash pushed up into a sitting position, grabbing her computer,  _ ‘Kira… a possible high school or college student… lucky for you, I’m eighteen, and I could be in either. I will find you myself, and I will confront you. You need a name to kill, after all.’  _ after typing for what seemed like hours, she ruled out her possible suspects, quickly narrowing the list down to ten.

“What?!” a voice exclaimed, causing Ash’s ears to ring as she practically jumped at his roaring voice, “There were twenty three heart attack victims  _ again _ yesterday?!” 

“Y-Yes, sir…” a man spoke, holding out a set of files towards the chief.

“And just like the day before, they were all prison inmates.. so we’d know immediately they died… and all 23 of them died exactly one hour apart from one another…” 

“Two days in a row… and both of those were weekdays… “

“It looks like it might not be a student after all…” 

“Come on, anybody could skip school for a couple days…”

“That isn’t it!” L exclaimed, shushing the detectives, “It’s true he might not be a student, but that isn’t what Kira’s trying to tell us! What Kira’s saying is that he has the ability to set the time of death as he pleases.”

Ash quickly interjected, “Hello, investigators of the Kira case. As you can probably assume, I am Jackal; the asshole you’ve all attempted to go after at one time or another.”

“Jackal.” L greeted dully, yet somehow seething with hatred.

“L.” Ash greeted in a tone just as venomous.

“What are you doing here, Jackal?” Watari’s voice spoke.

“I’m here to help. As one of the world’s most deadliest criminals, I’d rather not get killed by Kira.” Ash spoke, “Anyways, L, this is obviously a direct challenge towards you, along with a hint that he somehow has a way of gaining police information. You have found a piece of the information I was hinting you towards at the beginning; the estimated times of death for each victim strongly supports the possibility that Kira is a student. Even his first victim was at four P.M., roughly an hour and a half after most high schools are let out.

“Kira is mocking you, L. The day after you say that Kira is most likely a student, he begins to kill every hour on the hour… and It’s obvious he wanted you to know due to every single one of them being prison inmates, where we can immediately be notified of their deaths. He is showing us that he can set the time of death, and until now, it is possible Kira was setting the time of death to lead us to the conclusion that he is in fact a student. His main point, however, is to show us that he has police information. But what are his motives? Why is he telling us this?” 

Ash practically jumped as a knock sounded from her passenger side window, the woman looking across the van before speaking quietly “I… must get going. Turn on the TV around eight o’clock.”

She quickly disconnected with the click of a few buttons before shutting her laptop, shoving it under her arm as she pulled open the sliding door to the back of the van, her eyes narrowing at the man dressed in a nice collared shirt, tie, and dress pants.

“Ma’am, you can’t camp out here.” the man spoke in Japanese, the woman nodding as she responded.

“I’m so sorry, I’ll get going. I was just taking a call.” she smiled, watching as the man nodded and made his way back towards his restaurant.

Sliding the door shut, she quickly hid her computer in one of the many drawers built in under the mattress and climbed back into the driver’s seat, turning the key in the ignition, and making her way out of the parking lot. 

She drove for what seemed like an hour before pulling off into an empty alleyway, checking the area to reassure herself she could park without getting an earful from any managers. 

She checked the time.

19:45 

_ ‘Fifteen minutes.’ _

She climbed back into the bed of the van, opening the drawer and pulling out her jacked up laptop. 

She set everything up, hacking into every news broadcasting station she knew of in Japan before plugging in her earbuds, adjusting her voice-modifier to her usual settings before broadcasting her screen across Japan, showing only her usual Logo.

“Kira, I know you are watching this broadcast.” she spoke, her voice scrambler not masking her amused tone, “You watch the news from eight to twelve, and you are currently sitting perhaps at your desk, or maybe a couch or on your bed, just listening and waiting for a criminal’s name to pop up-- oh, how rude of me. I am Jackal, and given my criminal record, I am sure you have heard of me. The ‘no-name hacker’ from Canada, the ‘Jackal’ from America, ‘J’ from the British isles… don’t bother trying to kill me, I already know you can’t.” She let out a dark chuckle, “Now, Kira… I’ll be as blunt as possible, and hopefully you are as intelligent as you lead on, otherwise this is going right over your head:

“I know your plan. I have you figured out, and I know exactly what you are doing and why.” she paused, “And I want you to know just how much smarter I am than you, how much faster I am, and how I am going to be the one to find you. L, as intelligent as he may be-- sorry if you are listening to this, L, but you already know my personal opinion on you-- doesn’t catch on quick enough, and not to mention he has the psychological intellect of a boulder.” another pause, “I am going to be the one to find you. In fact… I should be the one you are afraid of, because right now, I have narrowed down my number of suspects to ten, and I’m almost certain you are one.

“Oh, I should probably repay you for your generosity when it comes to hints… but I’m not feeling very giving today.” she sighed, “I’ll leave you with this: ‘a caged bird can no longer fly, and therefore has lost its beauty it once had’.” Ash’s tone changed to one with more cheer, “Sleep well, Kira. You may need it if you intend on beating either L or I.” and with that, the woman quickly typed away, clearing her screen from the broadcast and allowing the news channels to return to their regularly scheduled services. 

Ash smiled to herself in satisfaction. 

_ ‘Kira. I will find you.’ _

She quickly looked up her location before looking around at schools nearby.

_ ‘Daikoku Private Academy….’  _ she glanced back at her list of suspects,  _ ‘Two of my suspects go there. I’ll investigate them, first.’ _

_ ‘Light Yagami, and Riku Hitachi. Both have possible access to police files through their parents.’  _ Ash bit her lip,  _ ‘Both get off school at half past two, and live right down the street from one another. I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew one another and walked home together.’ _

_ ‘this will be too easy.’ _

Ash pulled her phone from her pocket, clicking on one of her numerous contacts. 

###  12.13.2003

“I’ll text you where the money is after you carry out the task.” Ash frowned at the middle-aged drug addict before her.

“Fine.” he snapped, “How much, you promised two thousand.”

“Three thousand.” Ash sat down on the swing set, “I felt generous, so you better do a good job. Just follow my lead.”

“Yes ma’am.” he smirked, her eyes jumping up over his shoulder across the small park, her eyes landing on a pair of boys crossing through the grass to get to the other street. 

_ ‘There you two are.’  _ Ash smirked, her eyes locking with a set of deep brown ones, belonging to Riku Hitachi.

“That’s them.” she muttered, “Now.” 

“Hey!” the man barked, jumping into action as he grabbed the redhead’s upper arm, “You pay attention!”

“Get away from me.” Ash barked, trying to weakly shove the man away. She locked eyes with the boys once more. 

This time, they had stopped, the two teens watching silently.

“That’s not very nice, now is it.” the man smirked, leaning his face so close to hers she could smell the alcohol on his breath, “how about this; we get out of here, just you and me, and we can have some fun--”

“Hey--” Ash looked up, her eyes being met with a set of honey brown ones. Riku hissed at his friend to keep walking, but Yagami was already making his way towards the two criminals, “Let her go.”

“And why should I?” the man laughed. Ash could feel her arm bruising, but she didn’t care. The case was more important. 

“Just let her go, man.” Riku called, “it’s not worth the trouble.” 

“I’ll call the police.” Light snapped.

“What?” The man let out a breathy laugh, “You think they can catch me?”

“Call, please--” The drunk cut the redhead off, but she ignored him, “His name is--”

“Okay, that’s enough!” the man practically screamed into her face, the woman staring up at him in horror, “You let us leave, and there won’t be an issue, okay, kids?”

“I’m afraid that can’t happen.” Light snapped, looking past us at a group of onlookers, “Looks like someone already called. You better leave now, before the police show up. And don’t bother taking her; her hair will only make you easier to find for Kira.” 

_ ‘Strong sense of justice, confident that this man won’t hurt him, faith in Kira despite his father being the one to hunt him down… I’m beginning to think this kid may actually be Kira…’  _ Ash had to force herself not to smirk as she ripped her arm from the man’s grasp,  _ ‘First try… A guess, even! Damn, L is going to be pissed.’  _

“Kira won’t do shit--” the man shoved Light back slightly, the boy taking a step back. Ash frowned,  _ ‘I’ve met Light, but now that he is more likely to be Kira than anyone else on my list, he is my main suspect. I can’t settle with just meeting him, I need to be sure it truly is Kira, meaning I have to get close to him, which will be hard with me not being in school and such… I could get him to ‘walk me home’, but that would take more than a simple grab of the arm…’  _ the ginger cursed mentally at the situation,  _ ‘I better be fucking right…’  _ she put her hand on the actor’s chest, shoving him away from Light.

“Hey! Just walk away!” Ash snapped, “He’s not a part of this.” 

“Good.” the man smirked, grabbing her arms and dragging her towards him, “Then let’s go.” 

“My father is Chief of the police force.” Light spoke in a threatening, yet calm tone,  _ ‘patience, but he’s obviously getting irritated,’  _ “We’re also in the training academy for the police force, so I advise you let the girl go.” Ash’s brows jumped  _ ‘Lie. He’s a good liar, which makes me even more suspicious.’ _

Riku quickly glanced over at Light before adding on, “He’s right, we’re top of our grade.”

_ ‘false, but also a good liar… you’re changing my suspicions of you, Hitachi. But I still think Light is more likely to be Kira than you, if either of you are Kira that is.’ _

“Show me your badge, then, pretty boy.” the man sneered, Ash holding back a sigh as she knew they wouldn’t be able to come up with anything, only for Light to sigh, pulling his phone from his pocket and pretending to dial something into it and putting it to his ear. After a moment he spoke, “yes, hello, I want to report--”

“Okay, okay, I’ll let her go.” the man said, eyes wide as his hands recoiled from the girl’s arms. She instantly stepped away, her eyes wide as she didn’t say anything, the man speeding away from the scene. Once he was gone, the two teens turned their attention to the girl, who was seemingly shaking.

“Hey, are you okay?” Riku asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ash swallowed her ‘fear’, forcing herself to stand straight as she spoke, “Yeah… I’m fine.” 

“What’s your name?” Light asked, a small, kind smile on his lips as he spoke, “Where do you live? We’ll walk you home.”

_ ‘Yes… now… what location do I give them… I don’t have a home and if I say a house, they’ll want to perhaps meet my parents-- at least Light would, to make sure they know the situation. I can’t seem to get a good reading off Riku, it’s almost as though he’s suspicious, but that can’t be possible.’  _ she bit her lip,  _ ‘If I tell them I don’t have anywhere to stay, I’m sure they’d be horrified. I’m almost positive that these two wouldn’t let me go back on the streets with that guy on the loose, so it’s likely one of them would offer me to stay with them for dinner, in which I would get to know them better. On the off-chance they do let me back on the streets, I’m sure they would at least report me to the police and they would have my face.’  _ and so it was decided.

“I…” she trailed off, rubbing her arm… she then nodded to her backpack, “I’m on the streets…”

“If there's nothing else available you could probably stay with me for a bit,” Riku suggested, his hand dropping from her shoulder.

“Riku, you’re brother’s back, so doesn’t that mean you don’t have an extra room?” Light frowned.

“He doesn’t like to stay in the bedroom,” he shrugged.

“I-It’s fine, really, I should probably get going anyways--” 

“Where are your parents?” Light asked, his brows stitched with worry,  _ ‘Obviously fake, he’s more concerned about whether I’m a threat to him, that is if he’s Kira. If he isn’t Kira, he’s more worried about getting me somewhere safe.’ _

“I don’t know.” she shrugged, “Never had any I suppose…” she shrugged his hand off her shoulder, “It’s fine, really, you’ve done enough, I can’t thank the two of you enough for helping me. That guy has been following me all week now, and I think you might have scared him off.” 

At this, however, true worry came into Light’s eyes, “In that case, the second he catches you alone, he’ll want to get back at you.” he looked over at Riku, “Would your parents mind if she stayed?”

“Probably not, it’d give them a reason to make my sister be social,” 

Ash shook her head, “No, I don’t even know your names.”

Light gave a smile, “I’m Light Yagami, this is Riku Hitachi.” 

“Ashlynn.” she smiled back.

“Did you catch the man’s name, by any chance?” the brunet questioned.

_ ‘Gotcha’ _

Her eyes locked with Light’s with false curiosity, “Why?”

“So I can report him to my father.” Light said, the girl smirking.

“So he really is chief. I thought you were bluffing.” she chuckled.

“We were bluffing about the police academy part…” Riku chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, “I was honestly ready to run.”

Ash let out a laugh, “I’ve done that. One time I told a guy I was Kira and if he even thought about trying to steal from the store I used to work at, I’d kill him.”

“Wait, you said you knew his name.” Light frowned, “What was it?”

“It might be better if I report it myself. I know where his little hangout is, and I can pinpoint exactly where you can find him. He’s a horrible person, and so are the guys he works with, so I can tell you what time they meet every day and how to get in.” Ash said.

“You seem to know a lot about this guy.” Light said skeptically.

“You know, when you’re constantly followed and harassed by someone, you tend to collect as much as you can that you can use against them.” she grimaced, “I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to report him without having to worry about being interviewed by cameras later.” 

“One of us can if you're that jumpy,” Riku said, “we just say that we heard the information from someone else.”

“No, I think it’s better if she does it herself.” Light agreed, “She knows a lot more about this than we do, and I can just ask my father to say it came from an anonymous reporter so she isn’t pestered by journalists.” 

“What time does your dad get back? I can meet you two here and--” Light cut her off.

“You would be waiting here a long time.” Light smiled, waving for Ash to follow the two of them, “He doesn’t get back for another few hours, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here by yourself. I’m sure my family would love to meet you.”

“But--”

“Come on.” Light put his hand in his pocket, nodding to the sidewalk, “That guy is probably waiting around here for us to leave you alone. It’s more common than you think.” 

_ ‘He’s suspicious. Good, that’s exactly what I needed.’  _

“Alright…” she sighed, uncrossing her arms and following the teen, Riku walking beside the girl.

“What do you plan on doing with her, Light?” Riku rose a brow at his friend.

“Have her talk to dad, and maybe we can find her a place to stay until he’s arrested.” Light shrugged, “We should make sure she’s safe until he’s arrested.”

Riku shook his head, “I’d be better for her to find a place to stay permanently.”

“I don’t have enough money to stay anywhere permanently. I work at a coffee shop, not a big-time company.” she sighed.

“Surely you're still young enough to be in the foster system for a while?” Light frowned

“Eighteen. No can do.” she frowned, “And the last time I had a foster family they were ready to kick me out, so I did the honors and walked out myself.” 

The teen sighed, “seems like we’re all in quite the situation now…”

“I’m really sorry for dragging you two into this, I feel awful.” Ash sighed, looking down at the sidewalk.

“You were about to get kidnapped and possibly raped. I wasn’t going to just walk away.” Light frowned, “And now there’s no way I’m going to just let you walk about with a stalker following you.” 

“I just wasn’t expecting a situation like this that’s all,” Riku shrugged, “don’t worry about.”

She went silent, simply looking at the concrete before her,  _ ‘Light is clearly Kira, and there is only a small possibility my deductions are wrong. No one would change their mind so quickly, at first being against having me at their place, and then immediately deciding it would be the best place to stay. He is obviously sceptical about the name I gave him, as it was a simple american name with no last name, and him asking for the guy’s name so carefully was suspicious, like he had been trying to think of a way to make it less obvious. He was too confident, and now he knows he’s in deep shit.’  _ she smiled to herself,  _ ‘Things are finally getting interesting.’ _

The walk was almost silent, Light asking the occasional question about her that any other person would find to be small talk, but Ash knew well that that wasn’t the case. Riku would make the occasional comment, and once he turned off to get to his house, that was when her mask seemingly fell.

“So, chief, huh?” she asked, Light chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Heh, yeah…” the boy smiled.

“Do you aspire to be an officer too?” she asked, looking at ahead innocently as she stuck her hands in her denim short pockets.

“Yeah, a detective, actually.” Light smiled, relaxing slightly. 

Ash nodded, “I wanted to be a detective when I was little. Still do, but I obviously can’t…” she chuckled, “But hey, you’d probably do a sure of a hell lot better than I ever would.” 

Light glanced at her, and she could tell he was trying to figure her out. He let out a quiet laugh, “I’m sure you’d make a great detective too.”

“Thanks.” she looked up at him, sending him a broad smile. She then looked forwards again, her expression changing to one of confusion, “Yagami, are you sure your parents would be fine with you bringing a homeless teenager into their house that holds a ton of information about a group of criminals?” 

“No, I wouldn’t say that.” Light chuckled, “I think I’ll tell my mom you’re just someone from school, and I’m going to help you study, and then once my dad gets home, explain the whole situation to him.” 

“Isn’t that kind of rude to your mother?” she rose a brow, “and what would she say when you say ‘she needs a place to stay, totally not homeless, just needs to hang out for a week plus.’”

“I’m not sure.” Light sighed, “I’ll think of something. My mom won’t get home until later because she usually goes shopping around this time on Fridays, so it’s Sayu you’d first be meeting.”

“Sayu?” she asked, even though she knew full well who Sayu Yagami was; age fourteen, a second year student attending Eishu Junior High School with average grades. His mother, Sachiko Yagami, was forty-one, and a housewife, and his father, age forty-eight, was the Detective Superintendent of the Japanese police.

“She’s my sister. I’m sure she’ll be excited to meet you, I don’t think she’s ever seen me bring a girl over.” Light chuckled, “but be warned, she’ll probably pester you about being my girlfriend.”

Ash laughed, “I’ll take note of it.”  _ ‘Never brought a girl home before, meaning he’s never been in a deep relationship with a girl as that tends to be one of the many things that couples do… is it possible Light Yagami is gay? There’s also the possibility he doesn’t want to be embarrassed by his younger sister, or simply isn’t interested in having a relationship as of now. Any of these are possible, but depending on what it is, it may affect how he will treat me later on when he finds out I am Jackal.’ _

She spoke again, “I have a suggestion of what you could tell your mom and dad.”

“Shoot.” Light smiled.

“Just say there are a lot of problems at my house, and I currently don’t have a place to stay. They’ll either let me stay for a short period of time, or will help find a place for me to stay more permanently.” Ash shrugged, “It's not exactly a lie, and it’s more believable than saying I’m a friend from school.”

“Yeah, that’s a lot better.” The teen sighed, sending her a fake smile, though it was obvious she had made him only more concerned for the wellbeing of Kira. 

Light stopped at a certain gate, pushing it open and holding to prevent it from recoiling back at the ginger, “This is it.”

“It’s pretty.” she smiled, stepping into the yard and following him up the steps. He opened the door, the girl following him inside silently as he began to take off his shoes. Ash immediately begun to follow suit, kicking off her tattered high tops and setting them on the shoe rack. 

“Hey Light!” a young girl’s voice flowed from one of the rooms, Ash assuming it was Sayu.

“Hey, Sayu.” Light sighed, “Do you know when mom left?”

“Yeah, about half an hour ago. Why?” the girl asked.

“I have a friend and I was wondering if she could stay for dinner.” Light gave a small, cheeky smile towards the redhead.

“You did that on purpose.” Ash muttered.

“Wait, a girl?” Sayu yelled, rushing into the room. She looked over at Ash, her jaw dropping as she stared at her in awe, mostly her hair, “is your hair dyed…?”

“Sayu!” Light snapped, Ash laughing.

“No, it’s natural.” she grinned, “I’m Ash, pleasure to meet Light’s little sister I’ve already heard so much about.” 

“Oh, is this payback?” Light rose a brow.

“Aw, Light, you talked about  _ me _ ?” Sayu grinned, smirking mischievously, “I knew you loved me, and I wasn’t just an annoying little sister!”

“Yep, payback is a bitch, isn’t it?” the redhead snickered, crossing her arms.

“Whatever.” Light sighed, “Call when mom gets back, we’ll be upstairs.” 

“Alright, have fun you two!” she grinned, Light rolling his eyes at his sister as the two went up the steps.

“She’s sweet.” Ash smiled.

“Yes, and a pain in the back sometimes.” Light sighed, “Anyways, we can talk about that guy and figure out something to tell my dad.”

“Alright.” Ash nodded, adjusting her bag on her shoulders once more as she followed the teen into the room. He shut the door, Ash’s eyes darting around the room, humming, “You have a really nice room.”

“Thanks.” Light glanced at his desk, Ash’s eyes immediately following to land on a drawer with a key sticking out of it. She frowned suspiciously, but said nothing. Light sat down at his desk, the girl taking a seat at the edge of the bed.  _ ‘When in danger, a mother will turn to look at her children. The same goes for those and their most prized possessions… I’m sure whatever Light is hiding in that drawer has to do with Kira, and if he isn’t Kira, then perhaps just an ordinary sentimental object.’ _

Ash was slowly becoming bored of the brunet before her; she had been sitting there for almost an hour talking with him about the man, and where his base was. It was obvious he was stalling, trying to figure her out and still have a reason to stare at her to do so, conversation being the most valid one. She was losing her patience, her leg bouncing up and down as she listened to Light. She wanted to see his skill, his thought process, the way he talked and deduced, and it was obvious that that was what Light was purposely trying to avoid. He knew that she wasn’t who she said she was, and that it was extremely possible she worked for the investigation. 

“Light.” Ash finally spoke, bored of talking about the ‘stalker’, “You said you were going to become a detective, where do you plan to go to school?”

The brunet stared at her for a moment before answering, “To-Oh. I should probably be studying for the exams, but--”

“Oh, that’s a really prestigious college… You must be pretty smart.” she smiled, “We can talk about this guy later. You should study. I’m just going to be repeating myself to your father, anyways.”

“Yes, but what about you?” Light frowned, the girl smiling.

“I can help you study.” she got up, walking and standing beside him at his desk. She looked down at his computer, “It’d be interesting to see how hard this test really is.” 

“It’s--”

“Light!” Sayu called up the stairs, the two turning to look at the door, “Mom’s home!”

A wave of relief came over the boy, standing and shutting off his computer, “Come on, you can come talk to my mom and we can get this all sorted out, then you can help me study after.” 

_ ‘He’s turned the tables, he knows I’m trying to figure out his thought process and now he’s planning on having me answer a few of the questions myself, and seeing how smart I really am. If I truly were ‘Ash’, then I wouldn’t be as intelligent…’  _ she mentally cursed,  _ ‘He knows I must be Jackal, and he’s trying to use my pride against me.’  _

The two teens walked downstairs, Ash behind Light as she looked down, hands clasped in front of her. Light was the first to speak, “Hey, mom. Can we talk to you for a second?” 

Ash looked up to see an older lady with a dark brown bob cut turned around, paper bags overflowing with groceries in her arms.

“Yes, of course.” she looked over at the ginger, “And who might this be?”

“I’m Ash.” she smiled, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, you have a lovely house.” 

“Why thank you.” she smiled, setting down the bags on the counter, “Now what was it you needed, Light?”

“Right,” Light let out a small chuckle, “Ash is a friend of mine from school, and there’s a lot of… unfavorable things going on at home for her…” Mrs. Yagami’s brows rose, “And she needs a place to stay. I was thinking maybe she could report what’s been going on to Dad and then we can find her a place to stay.” 

“Oh, I’m so sorry, dear.” her eyes softened, looking at Ash with pity. The ginger hated the feeling of being pitied, but said nothing, “Of course. I’m sure we can find something.” 

“Thank you so much, you have all been too kind.” she smiled, rubbing her hand over her bruised arm, “I’ll find a way to make it up to you.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Light smiled, “You don’t have to.” 

“Thank you.” she smiled back.

“Wait, so your girlfriend is staying here?” Sayu asked, Light frowning.

“She’s a friend, Sayu.” he sighed.

“Yeah, sure.” she rolled her eyes, Ash giggling.

“You know, I really like your sister, Light.” she smirked, elbowing him slightly.

Light rolled his eyes at the redhead, “Whatever. We’ll be upstairs if you need anything.” and he turned, going to walk up the steps, only for Mrs. Yagami to speak.

“Oh, but dear, do you need to go pick anything up from your house?” she asked, Ash shaking her head.

“Nope, I brought all of my things with me.” she smiled, following Light up the steps, “Thank you, though.” 

Once they were in the boy’s room, he sighed, “Sorry about that, Sayu can be…” 

“Hilarious?” She rose a brow, smirking before plopping down on the corner of the bed once more, “She’s got a mouth on her, but that must run in the family.” She looked at Light, the boy rolling his eyes.

“I’ve known you for about two hours and you act as though you've known me for years.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

“I have that effect with certain people.” She grinned before looking at his computer, “anyways, studying.”

The two sat for a while, looking over the questions in tense, short answers. Finally, the two began to relax a bit, giving longer and longer answers until the two became side tracked in conversation, secretly trying to expose one another.

“I honestly think Jackal is bluffing. L is the smartest detective in the world, right?” Light asked.

“Yes, but if that were the case, how come Jackal isn’t caught yet?”

“That’s true, but still, they must be bluffing. Only ten suspects with a case where even L is stumped.”

“But even if they were bluffing, who’s to say that they  _ aren’t  _ smarter than L?”

Light rose a brow, “Then wouldn’t Jackal be the world’s greatest detective, not L?”

Ash sighed, “Light, I might be the very best soccer player the world has yet to know, but I don’t have any money, therefore I can’t join a college, and then I can’t join a team, where I would be noticed by coaches. L may simply have the advantage when it comes to connections and money to pay for hotels and such, however, Jackal may be smarter and faster.”

Light frowned, sending her a suspicious glance before uttering an apology, the girl waving him off. There was a short pause before Light spoke once more, “Ash, what’s your real name?”

Ash’s head snapped in his direction, brows furrowed in confusion,  _ ‘I’m not surprised he caught on it was an alias… but no way in hell did I expect him to be so direct about it.’ _

“I don’t have one.” she frowned, crossing her arms, “I was born homeless, got separated from my parents before I knew my own name, was fostered with the name ‘Ashlynn Jaelon’, and ran away as an Ash.” the girl technically wasn’t lying, as everything was the straight truth up until her ‘name’. She was adopted for a short amount of time; long enough to learn the essentials before some freak accident resulting in their deaths. She was ten, then, and she ran as far as she could from the scene. 

“Oh, I’m—”

“I swear to god if you apologize I’m going to slit someone’s throat.” she sighed, “Sorry, I’ve had enough pity today to last me a lifetime.”

Light chuckled, “It’s fine.” another pause. 

“Why did you want to know?” Ash asked, the brunet smiling.

“Oh, in case my dad ever needs to contact you again.” He said, opening his mouth to continue only for Sayu’s voice to call from down the hall.

“Light! Dad’s home!” She yelled.

“Oh, thanks, Sayu.” Light called back, though he didn’t make a move to get up. Instead, his eyes lingered on the door for a moment, his lips twitching into a frown before glancing at Ash. Then, out of nowhere, his eyes widened slightly, the man opening his mouth to speak immediately.

“If you want me to tell him, it’s fine—” Ash cut Light off, her brows raised.

“Backing out now, now are we?” she asked, pushing to her feet, “come on.”

_ ‘It seems he’s figured out my riddle. “A caged bird can no longer fly, and therefore has lost its beauty it once had” The bird can obviously be mistaken as Kira, and the message could easily be mistranslated to, “If you are in jail, you will no longer be able to kill, and therefore the fun ends there”. However, it’s quite the opposite. The riddle is “If I, Jackal, am in jail, I am no use to you.” Light’s original plan was to have me meet his father and his father voice his suspicions to L, who would then capture me. Now that he sees this message, he realizes I’m here to ‘help’, as I worded it. _

_ ‘Now he’s worried that once I meet his father, his father will get me in jail, and he could lose possibly the only tie he has to L. However, even if Yagami were to voice his concerns to L, (which is extremely unlikely if I play this off correctly) Jackal’s constant updates to the case and broadcasts won’t line up to what I myself may be doing, and will debunk the possibility of me being Jackal. _

_ ‘L doesn’t know I have made a software with the ability to have a pre-set hack that will interrupt the television broadcasts. All I have to do is type a few keys into a computer with my hard drive in it and bam, a recorded message plays to all of Kanto, Japan. As long as someone sees me just there, not talking into a mic, it will only give L a ‘gut feeling’ rather than an actual suspect. I even recorded it to make me sound as though I am on a bus somewhere, and even mention my “location” to mess with their heads. This is going to be fun.’ _

Ash began to walk to the door, her hands in her pockets and her shoulders relaxed. Light hesitantly followed, catching up with the redhead and walking down the stairs beside her. He led her to another room in the house she had yet to see. It was a small office with glass doors and a lamp that wasn’t turned on, the monitor to a desktop was on as a shadowed figure was setting his bag on the desk. Ash stepped back, positioning herself so she was further behind Light, the girl awkwardly messing with the hem of her pink shirt, her black sweater hanging loosely on her shoulders. 

Light hesitated before speaking, “Hey, Dad.”

The chief looked over his shoulder, spotting his son and smiling, “Hello, Light.” He looked over at the girl, seemingly shocked at first, “Who’s this?”

“Ash, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m one of Light’s friends from school.” The girl smiled sheepishly, the brunet nodding in agreement.

“She’s having some problems at home, and I was wondering, since you’ve dealt with this sort of thing before, if we could help her find somewhere to stay.” Light said, the boy regaining his confidence almost immediately.

“Well, it depends on the situation.” The older man sighed, moving to turn on the light switch, only for it to not turn on. He sighed, most likely taking note to change the bulb later, “We can talk about it after dinner, your mother just finished making it.”

“Alright,” Light looked over at the girl, “is that fine with you, Ash?”

“Of course.” she smiled, “Thank you again.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” the teen smiled. 

The three of them walked into the dining area; Sayu was already seated, the plates in the table and the girl obviously forcing herself not to dig in. Ash held back a chuckle, sitting down in the extra chair that had been added, Light sitting next to her. 

Once everyone was seated, everyone began to eat rather silently, only the sound of metallic chopsticks against ceramic plates filling the tense air. Finally, Sayu spoke up, glancing at Ash as she adjusted her grip on her utensils, “Ash, were you born in Japan or did you move here?”

“Oh, I moved here.” she smiled, “I’m from Europe, my-” she paused, a flash of uneasiness flashing through her eyes before continuing, starting off slowly before gaining her momentum once more, “ _ -family… _ and I moved here about five years ago, and luckily I learned Japanese from a young age.” 

“Why’s that?” Chief Yagami questioned.

“My parents originally had the idea of moving here when I was about twelve due to the great academics, so they made me learn from a young age.” she smiled, taking a bite of her food.

“I don’t blame them, the schools here are incredible.” Light agreed, flashing the girl a small smile before taking a bite of his own meal. 

“Easy for you to say, Light!” Sayu rolled her eyes, “you’re a genius already!”

Ash rose an amused brow,  _ ‘oh, I know, kid.’  _

Light let out a modest laugh, “I mean, I don’t know about being a  _ genius _ , Sayu…”

_ ‘I could drop a hint that I’m Jackal. This  _ is  _ getting quite boring. His family is too dull to realize it, but given I have a really strong feeling on this guy, there’s no way this man can’t be Kira. My gut feelings are almost always right, and everything adds up.’  _ She forced herself to conceal a mischievous smirk,  _ ‘L, you’re a tad bit too slow, Love. Maybe I’ll let you catch up.’ _

Ash kept quiet, feeling as though she should be a little bit generous to her competition. She took another bite of her food as she dozed off, not paying attention to Sayu’s rant about her older brother’s grades. As far as she was concerned, she knew everything about the boy’s academic standards, and she definitely knew he was definitely a genius. The girl glanced at Light  _ ‘He’s a genius alright, but it would be interesting if he were smarter than I. Maybe I could finally be cured of my boredom. Messing with L only is fun for so long.’ _

“What about you, Ash?” Sayu questioned, the ginger looking up from her plate, “Do you do well in school?”

“I suppose so.” The girl lowered her chopsticks, a small, innocent smile on her face, “I guess I’m average, but I actually met Light because I asked him to help me study, so I’m doing better, now.”

“That's good!” Sayu grinned. Ash smiled back and went to take another bite of her food only to find the plate empty. She frowned, not realizing how hungry she had been before. Then again, not eating for days at a time did take its toll. She hadn’t even thought about food in the last few weeks because of this case. She was so deeply involved she didn’t even go to get groceries.

She glanced over at Light sheepishly, who almost immediately felt her gaze and locked eyes with her before glancing at her plate. She looked back down and slowly set her utensils down. She looked over at Light once more to see he still had food left on his plate, yet he wasn’t even touching it. She frowned,  _ ‘wasteful…’ _

“Thanks for dinner, Mom. It was amazing.” Light smiled before standing, taking his plate from the table and grabbing Ash’s as well. She nodded in agreement, quickly thanking Light before his father spoke.

“I’ll speak with you two after I finish talking with your mother about Ash, Light.” he said, the brunet nodding before gesturing for the redhead to follow. She complied, following the teen into the kitchen and watching him place the plates in the sink. She thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“Come on.” He said, though his tone wasn’t nearly as fake and uplifting as it once was. Ash smirked,  _ ‘he’s catching on’ _

“Oh, okay.” She smiled, following the boy out of the room and up the stairs. They arrived at his bedroom and the boy walked inside, walking to his desk but not sitting down. Ash hesitated, not stepping into the room for a moment as she frowned, watching Light with a suspicious expression. He didn’t notice her look, however, as his back was turned. When he didn’t hear the door close behind her, he spoke up, turning to face her ever so slightly.

“You can come in, you know. You were just in here.” He let out a small laugh that many would find comforting, but it only put the woman more on edge. She wasn’t afraid, nor was she intimidated in any way, but she felt a sinking feeling in her gut.  _ ‘He’s going to interrogate me to see if I’m Jackal’ _ . She stepped inside, biting down on her lip as she reached behind her, closing the door softly. She glanced at the brunet, watching him as he turned to look at her. Neither one moved, the two geniuses at a stalemate as their eyes locked, both reading one another as an attempt to figure each other out. Finally, Light’s eyes darted away, the man finally pulling his chair from his desk and sitting down.

Ash didn’t bother celebrating her victory, and instead leaned against the door; watching as the teen shuffled through the pile of papers on his desk, closing his textbook.

“Don’t you have homework?” Ash finally spoke, surprising the boy just a bit before he let out an amused huff.

“Yeah, I’ll do it tomorrow. I have two off periods in the morning, so I’ll just do it then.” He smiled, the ginger’s lips turning to a frown. 

“Cool.” She said, “I didn’t go to high school, but I think that is a lucky schedule arrangement…”

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting,” Light let out a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Anyways, is there anything you want to do? We can talk more about the guy we saw at the park.”

_ ‘If I keep him distracted, then he might not be able to do his usual routine of killings, so that’ll give me my answer on whether I have the right suspect. Even if I’m almost positive, it's good to be sure.’  _

“I’d… rather not talk about him for a bit…” she sighed, rubbing her arm. She gave an apologetic smile, “Sorry, Yagami, I’m just not a fan of that topic…”

“No, I understand, sorry for bringing it up so much,” his gaze narrowed ever so slightly, something the normal eye wouldn’t catch, but Ash was far from normal. She returned the gesture as he spoke, “you lied pretty flawlessly at dinner, I’m kind of surprised.”

She winced, “I… guess I did. Then again, you kind of have to lie a lot when you’re living on the streets.”

“Sorry to ask, but how did you get into Japan? You have an obvious accent, so I’m curious…” he smiled, “Sorry if it’s like I’m asking too many questions, you don’t have to answer.”

“Oh, It’s fine.” She smiled, “I… got on a cargo ship from the Americas and came here. I’m surprised no one caught me, I was hiding in one of the larger crates and snuck out.”

“Oh.” Light frowned, glancing at his watch. Ash’s eyes followed his, seeing the time was 7:24 pm. She forced on an expressionless mask as she thought,  _ ‘Most of Kira's killings are between eight P.M. and midnight. He’s getting anxious.’  _

“Do you have a scholarship to To-Oh, Light?” The girl questioned, the boy shaking his head.

“No, they don’t offer many scholarships, and most are out of the country.” He said, the ginger nodding.

“Shame, you deserve it.” She smiled. She rolled up her sleeves absentmindedly as she pushed away from the door, sitting back down on the bed.

“Aren’t you young to have a tattoo?” Light asked, the girl glancing up at him and following his gaze to her arm, which held a geometric pattern of some mountains and such. She gave a small smile.

“No, it’s pretty recent. I’m eighteen, so it’s legal.” she looked back at Light, “I’m not going to college anytime soon, and I can’t get a good job without college that would have codes concerning tattoos, so I’m not too worried.”

“I suppose you’re right.” there was a pause, and Light glanced down at his watch again, his brows knitting together before his expression changed completely. His new mask bore a look of confidence, his eyes filling with a new emotion as he stared towards the door. He then looked back at the girl, his mouth opening to speak only to close once more. He then tried again, this time going through with his thoughts, “Is there anyone who would be worried you’re gone?”

She frowned, “Worried? No. Suspicious that I’m up to no good? Probably.”  _ ‘L and Hecate are probably concerned I haven’t hacked them in a while’  _

“Like who?” Light frowned.

“Oh, just a few people who I’ve been hanging out with for the past few days.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Completely. I’m not worth worrying over.”

Light seemed struck off-course by this, as though he had forgotten what he was going to say and instead said another, “I’m sure that’s not true—”

“Yagami, hate to break it to you but I’ve been homeless most of my life.” She made small firework gestures with her hands, “Surprise! I wonder what that means.”

Light stayed silent for a moment before changing the subject entirely, “Ash,”

“Yes?”

“I know you’ve lied about ninety percent of the things you’ve said.” Ash froze, her fidgeting coming to a sudden halt.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she frowned  _ ‘So he knows I’m Jackal, huh? How? I wonder if he tried to kill me using the name I gave him and failed to do so as it was an alias. But when? I don’t recall seeing him do anything out of the ordinary…’ _

“Yeah, you do.” Light frowned. He paused, “Whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

Ash gave a small smirk, “What’s your favorite animal, Light?”

He frowned, and Ash could see the defeat in his eyes as he knew exactly what the redhead was doing. If he were Kira, he were to say ‘a songbird’ referring to her earlier riddle. If he weren’t Kira, he would say anything else. But if he were to try to get away with saying anything else, Ash would know it was him, due to how many clues he’s dropped and vise versa. She had him cornered, and he hadn’t even realized it until she was breathing down his neck.

He gave a false smile, “A songbird.” 

“Mine’s a Blue Jay.” She grinned knowingly, “don’t you just hate seeing them locked up, where they can’t spread their wings as they’re meant to do?”

Light forced himself not to show his irritation, though it was obvious to the girl, “Yes, they lose their beauty when they’re locked up.”

Her grin only broadened, “You need to be more careful, Kira. It was easy to find you.”

“You weren’t lying when you said you were smarter than L…” Light sighed, his once cheerful demeanor falling away as his gaze became more malicious, “Can I ask  _ how _ you found me?”

Ash was unfazed by his aggression, glancing down at her nails in boredom, “A magician doesn’t reveal his act, Yagami. Just know it was easy as hell.”

“What do you want? Your riddle suggested that you would be useful to me.” Light frowned, crossing his arms.

“It’s not about what I want. What do  _ you  _ want?” At the boy’s confused look, she sighed, explaining, “I said I’m not on L’s side nor Kira’s, meaning I won’t turn you in to L, but I’m not going to reveal his identity to you. I will, however, do anything else. For example, I can give you the names of criminals, and hints as to where L is now in the case. Those are random, though; no requests.”

“Why? You’re a criminal responsible for the deaths of dozens of people.” Light pushed off his chair, taking a small, leisurely step towards the ginger which most would find intimidating in the given situation, “I’m Kira. I could kill you right now if I wanted to.”

“Oh, lying won’t get you out of this situation, Light.” she sighed, looking away from her hand and leaning against her arm, her gaze boring into the teen and making him waver for a moment, “You can’t kill me, that’s how you know I gave you a false name. L suspects that Kira needs a name to kill, something that took him all too long to notice. I, however, know that you need a name  _ and  _ a face. That doesn’t matter in this situation, but it’s a good thing for you to know later on. Anyways, you tried to use the name I gave you and the face you see now to kill me, and when it didn’t work, you immediately knew I was lying. The fact that I was lying and the hints I’ve dropped lead you to the conclusion that I was Jackal. Though, the fact that you continuously glanced down at your watch gives me the impression you knew the exact time I would begin to die, so before you question me, I would like to see how you do it.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” the boy let out a small huff of amusement, “For all I know, you could be going back to L right when you leave and telling him everything.”

“Then I won’t leave.” the girl crossed her legs, “You’ll have almost twenty-four hour supervision on me, and given tomorrow is the start of the weekend, you won’t have to worry about school being in the way. This way, you’ll realize that I am not partnered with the infamous L.” Ash sneered the detective’s name ever so slightly, though she continued as though she had said nothing, “Do we have a deal? You get to make sure I don’t call L and tell him your dirty little secret and you’ll tell me how you do it.”

“You never answered my question,” Light frowned, crossing his arms, “Why are you so interested in what I do?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Light?” the girl let out a small sigh, “I’m bored. L used to be good competition, but I learned faster than him, and I soon became faster and smarter than that stuck up bastard. L is the smartest detective on earth, and I’ve outsmarted him. Don’t you realize what that means? I have no one to go against, no one to entertain me and drag me out of my own boredom. Your case has been the first in years that has sparked my interest, and I was hoping I would finally find someone with the same level of intellect as I. Though, with how this whole meeting has been going, I’m beginning to doubt my hopes.” 

Light let out a small chuckle, “That’s… actually… why I decided to continue acting as Kira. I was bored. School only gets you so far, and what’s the point in becoming a detective that will be, for the most part, overlooked and unknown to the world when you could become the most infamous savior the world has to offer?”

Ash let a small smile slip onto her lips, “An anti-hero. That’s what you’re trying to be.”

“Anti-hero...?”

“A hero that’s viewed by many to be the villain.” she smirked, “For example, you took me for a criminal, when really, I’m the one who’s solved L’s hardest murder cases and gave him the answer. The murders I’m apparently responsible for were never carried out by me, and if they were, they were unintentional. L was the one to put most of those murders on my profile, honestly. That…  _ detective _ … is the most childish man I have ever met, and he put them over my head because I beat him over and over again, and he thought maybe the risk of me getting caught would lead to me giving up. I never gave up, because I knew I wasn’t going to get caught. Not to mention he only spiced things up for me and kept me busy. He soiled my name, when I was the one who caught almost all of those criminals. I, Light Yagami, am an anti-hero, what you are attempting to be.” 

Light stayed silent for a moment before taking a step towards the girl, holding out his hand for her to shake, “Deal.” Ash’s lips pulled into a smile as she gently took his hand, shaking it lightly.

“Well, Light, what’s your agenda for tomorrow?” she sighed, her hand dropping to her side as she leaned on it once more. Light sat down beside her.

“Nothing was planned.” he frowned.

“You know, L is going to know I found you if you don’t do your usual killings.” The girl sighed, biting her lip as she tapped her chin jokingly, “and if he finds that out, there’s the possibility he will come to me asking who you are. As I said before, I’m not on either side, so I may or may not tell him. However, if you do your usual acts, then he won’t suspect a thing, just that I decided against stalking him today…”

“Already did it.” Light smiled, “I'm assuming you know that I can set the time of death on the criminals. I did today’s the night before, and I’ll most likely do tomorrow’s while you’re asleep.”

“Insomniac.” She said bluntly.

“I should have guessed.”

“That’s not very nice, Yagami.”

“It’s the truth.” At this, the girl swung her leg to lightly kick his, the man rolling his eyes.

“Then what’s your plan?” she asked, crossing her arms across her chest as she watched the ceiling. 

“If I tell you then I can’t go through with it.” Light smirked.

“Toché.” the girl returned the gesture, propping herself up by her elbows, “What do you plan to tell your father now?”

“My father will probably try to find a hotel for you but knowing my mom, she’ll say that we can worry about it tomorrow and you’ll just spend the night in either the guest room or I’ll end up on the couch—“ 

“—In which I assume you’ll come back up here to make sure I’m not snooping through your stuff.” Ash droned.

“That’s not what I’m afraid of.” He frowned.

“Ah, you’re worried I’ll leave in the night and contact L. News flash, I have no means of communication.” she gestured to her bag, “take a look if you don’t believe me.”

“You could easily use my computer.” Light frowned.

“Your computer is more prehistoric than the archaeology textbooks at your school, Light.” she sighed, “I’m not going to be able to hack into one of the most intelligent detective’s computers on  _ your  _ desktop.”

“You don’t need to hack if you’re in touch with him.”

“He has no email nor does he have social media for obvious reasons. The only way to contact him otherwise is to call, which I can’t do on an outdated box monitor.” she shrugged, “Worry all you want, but I’m just letting you know there’s no reason to.”

Light frowned, staying silent for a moment before finally speaking up again, “Ja-Ash, you’re one of the world’s best hackers, you can’t blame me for being cautious.”

“I can, actually.” she gave a small smile as she sat up, “I may not be a woman of my word, but when Jackal and L have been at each other’s throats for years, I doubt we’d be all ‘buddy buddy’ now. This is the first  _ real  _ competition between us, and like  _ hell  _ we’re letting that opportunity go. You’re our entertainment, sorry if that’s kind of a bummer, but when two bored geniuses are neck and neck, we won’t let a god complex get in the way of our work.”

“Thanks.” Light frowned, Ash rubbing her bruised arm with her hand, “How’s the arm?”

“It’s fine.” Ash bit her lip, “Light-- are you currently dating someone?”

“Now someone’s a little eager.” he raised a smug brow at the girl, who rolled her eyes.

“I doubt I’m your type, Mr. Popular.” she smirked.

Light sent her a smile as he glanced at the ceiling, clearly making a scene of thinking hard, “I mean, I wouldn’t be  _ opposed _ \--”

“Oh my god--” Ash swung her hand at the boy, hitting him lightly on the arm, “Are you always this cocky?”

“I’m not any more or less cocky than you.” Light laughed as she rolled her eyes, “No, I’m not dating anyone. And I know what you mean: If we worked under the illusion that we were dating, it would be less suspicious.”

“Exactly.” Ash grinned, “Have fun explaining it to your parents. What do you plan to say? ‘Oh, I  _ just  _ asked her to be my girlfriend about five minutes ago and so yeah, sorry Mum.” 

He gave an amused chuckle,“Are  _ you  _ always this cocky?”

“Well, I guess you’ll find out.” She raised a brow. Ash turned, staring him straight in the eye, “I’m going to test you on something. Mostly because I’m curious about your abilities and also you’re failing your job of keeping me entertained.”

Light chuckled, “Well, someone’s hard to please.” when Ash rolled her eyes, the boy let out a laugh, “Go ahead; shoot.”

“What can you deduce about me?” she smirked, crossing her legs.

“Well, you’re from Europe, given you not only said this, but you’ve said ‘mum’ twice now—” Light was cut off by the girl's groan as she pushed to her feet, pacing a bit in front of him.

“Basic, that’s what your deductions are. Even a third grader could tell that much.” she hissed, “You and I both know that you are capable of more than a silly observation like that. What am I  _ hiding _ ? Where was I yesterday? Come on, do better than  _ that _ .”

Light rolled his eyes, “Well, you’re immature for sure. The only reason why you try to beat L is because you, Jackal, are  _ jealous _ that  _ he  _ gets to be the world’s greatest detective while  _ you’ve  _ been dubbed as the world’s most skilled  _ criminal _ , which you obviously don’t think you are. You wanted to find Kira first because you wanted to prove you were better, and yet now that you’ve found me, you don’t know what to do. If you turn me in, L will get the credit of catching us both, and if you decide to work with me, then that makes you a criminal for sure. Hence why we’re sitting here having this conversation rather than you actually doing something about me. You know full well that you could end this case now but you can’t stand that cocky detective getting all the credit  _ you  _ deserve, and you know he won’t give you any credit. Also, by turning me in, you’re giving up the chance to finally have a decent battle with L.”

“Smart, Light, but not quite.” she smirked, the boy’s cocky smile fading as she continued, “You know full well I know everything about you with a simple glance. You’re like an open book, Yagami. Anyways, I’ll tell you one thing  _ you  _ don’t think I’ve figured out yet.” she smirked as she walked over to his desk, gesturing to the top drawer, which had a key sticking out of it. His face paled, his lips curling into a frown, “Whatever you use to carry out your killings is in this drawer. Knowing you’re too smart to actually just put it in there, you obviously rigged it, which is why I haven’t touched it yet.  _ But _ , just know I know exactly where it is, and I  _ will  _ use it against you, Light Yagami.” her eyes were narrowed into slits, her lips curving into a vicious smirk as she stared into the teen’s soul. He stared back at her with a malicious glare, the brunet standing as well.

“And how do you expect to do that, Jackal? I could tell my father right now that you are Jackal. No doubt about it that he would go straight to L.”

“And I would go straight to L telling him I’ve found Kira.” her smirk deepened, “Light, you’re naïve to think that L would go after me over you. He would just take note of who I am and instantly pin your ass to the police. You’re a bigger threat to him than I, mostly because you’re irrational and would kill him the moment you found his name. I, however, play with my food before I eat it, therefore making me less of a threat in the present.”

Light smirked , “You sure know how to get on people’s nerves, don’t you?”

“It’s my specialty, Yagami.” Ash sighed, her cocky expression deepening, “But really, it  _ was  _ very easy to find you.”

“How  _ did  _ you find me so quickly.”

“Well, some of the things L mentioned during his little broadcast; I knew that you were in the Kanto region of Japan due to your first few killings, and I noticed before L that all of their faces were released to the public, and I knew that you need a name as well. Then I noticed the times of death almost immediately, and I realized that you only killed between four PM and two AM, and mostly between eight and twelve. This means that if you were in fact a student, then you used from the moment school let out to until around seven-thirty or eight o’clock to study to keep you your grades, undoubtedly to keep suspicion off you, and then you would use up to twelve to kill, and then sleep to keep a good, healthy amount of sleep to keep suspicion off of you as well.  _ Then _ , given I am one of  _ the  _ world’s best hackers,” she emphasized ‘the’ as she gave a very arrogant smirk, “I listened into L’s conversation with one of his…  _ inside _ workers, and I am well aware that, just as you were trying to get L to do, he is going to be investigating everyone in the task force individually. 

“I, however, took a step further and looked into those who were related to the officers and who were still in school with high grades. You, along with about ten others caught my eye. I then went by most seemingly intelligent to least, and the list started with you and your little pal Riku. Though, if I’m completely honest, it was a simple coincidence that I picked you two to investigate first. You were simply the closest suspect to where I was staying, not to mention the superintendent's  _ son _ . You caught on pretty quickly, though, which I’m actually quite impressed about; most take quite some time to even get the idea in their head that I could possibly be Jackal, though it’s obvious you thought I was L at first.” she took a step closer to him, a smirk on her lips, “Really, Kira. If you possibly expect to surpass L, then you’re going to have to do a bit better than this.” 

Light let out a soft laugh, “Well, you aren’t L, now are you? You’re smarter than him by a considerable margin, so do I really have much to worry about?”

“Yes, you do.” Ash’s lips pulled into a frown, “Now that I’ve found you, L is going to try even harder to find me to get us both pinned to the police. I haven’t contacted him in almost two days, which is a lot given how ‘egotistical’ I am. That means he’s already suspicious of what's going on; he knows I’ve found  _ something _ , and he knows it has to do with you.” 

“Oh, so you  _ do  _ contact him?” Light rose a brow, taking a step closer to her as well, “Now I really  _ do  _ have a reason to worry.” 

“No, you don’t.” she sighed irritably as her sharp hazel eyes bored into his own chocolate ones, “He can’t contact  _ me _ , I can only contact him. And when I  _ do  _ speak with him, it’s usually just me taunting him with the information I already know that he doesn’t.”

Light hummed, “So you just enjoy seeing him irritated?”

“That’s exactly it.” she smirked, “I just know how to push people’s buttons.”

Light opened his mouth to speak, only for another voice to interject as the door to his room opened, “Hey, Light? Mom and Dad wanted to ta….” Sayu trailed off as she eyed the two, who both had just realized they were in extremely close proximity to one another. Light stepped away, though Ash stood her ground as she sent Light one last stare that was almost unreadable. A wide, cheshire grin spread across the young girl’s lips as she continued to stare at the two teens, “I  _ knew  _ it! I was right!” she squealed, “You  _ do  _ have a girlfriend, Light! I knew you just couldn’t be single  _ still _ , especially when you’re about to go to college!”

“Sayu, maybe you should try getting a boyfriend.” Light frowned at his sister, “Maybe then you’ll be more concerned about your own love-life than mine.”

Ash rose a warning brow at the boy, almost as though she was telepathically scolding him. Sayu didn’t seem to care, as she was still much too excited for her brother’s accomplishment, “how long have you been dating? Why haven’t you told mom and dad?”

“We… Aren’t dating.” Ash sent a gentle smile towards Sayu, “We met only a few days ago… We went on our first date today.” 

“Oh… my God!” Sayu squealed, “That’s  _ so  _ cute!”

“What did Mom and Dad want, Sayu?” her older brother spoke, rubbing one of his temples before dropping his hand to his hip.

“They wanted to ask you something, but…” she smirked, Light’s eyes narrowing.

“Sayu, don’t you dare…”

“Mom! Dad!” Sayu yelled, rushing down the hall towards the stairs, “Light has a  _ girlfriend _ !”

“I--Sayu!” Light exclaimed, almost looking as though he was going to chase after her.

“This is payback for calling me nosy!” she called back.

“You aren’t helping your case, Sayu!” Ash groaned, though the look on her face showed clear amusement. She grabbed Light’s sleeve, dragging him out of the hall, “Use this to your advantage, Yagami.”

After a moment of sibling rivalry between the youngest Yagamis, Light finally ‘explained’ to his parents that the two teens weren’t  _ dating _ , as they had barely met, but they had gone on a date. Mr. Yagami then explained to Ash that after a long conversation with Light’s mother, they both agreed that she would stay there for the night and tomorrow Light would help her get her stuff from her house and they would find a family member nearby that would take her in. Ash was very quick to reply that she had no other family that was currently in Japan or living in general, and that she would be fine with just paying for a hotel room until further notice. Reluctantly, the two parents agreed, and Mr. Yagami pestered the young girl for the rest of the night about what happened between her and her parents as Light went upstairs on his father’s orders, along with Sayu. 

Ash knew that Light was probably off killing criminals as she spoke of her non-existent parents, refusing to give him their names as she was ‘afraid of what they would do to her if she turned them in’, when the true case was that they simply didn’t exist. Mr. Yagami spent almost three hours just trying to get information on her parents, though finally gave up around ten and let the girl go upstairs to the guest bedroom. Though, she didn’t go there immediately, instead going right up to Light’s room and pushing the door open almost silently, her eyes falling upon the boy, who had his computer open to a News site as he wrote furiously in a black notebook. She smirked,  _ ‘so that’s how you do it, Kira.’ _


End file.
